'Postcard from Sweden' -aka the IKEA HST quilt

They were just meant to be made in to a quilt and despite the fact that I am not the biggest fan of making HST's, two weeks ago I stepped up to the challenge of doing just that using the top right card as my inspiration.

I spent a whole Friday evening with all my Kona cotton solids and my modified Kona card coming up with a plan. By Saturday morning I had 36 Kona Cotton solids picked out from my stash, a number coded chart and the #militaryoperationquilting was born.

the abbreviated WIP picture collage

I loved every part of making this quilt, even the trimming of the HST wasn't really a chore thanks to the genius that is the Bloc-Loc ruler.

With such a riot of colours I chose a medium grey 50wt Aurifil thread (#2605) for both the piecing and quilting and it blended beautifully.

Surprisingly I didn't back the quilt with the IKEA Nummers fabric, I used my other staple favourite Architextures Crosshatch in grey and binding in black.

I posted pics of every step of making this quilt on IG and had such amazing feedback that I decided that I should turn my scribblings in to a free pattern. I uploaded the pattern to my Craftsy pattern store yesterday and you can find it here.

Justine at Simply Solids is putting together a kit for this quilt to go with my free pattern, I will post on here when it is available.

LOVE this quilt - I'm a huge fan of HSTs so this is one for my list - thanks so much for the wonderful pattern on craftsy ! love all the colours you've picked and I even have some IKEA numbers for the back !

Thank you so much for picking my card as one your winners from the teddies challenge, it is such an honour.Thank you for all your hard work in making the challenge so successful, it's a shame that the challenge is ending but I can totally understand your reasons and wish you all the best.Sue xx Obat aborsi

The quilt is gorgeous! Ss many oif us saw that postcard, thought "What a great quilt that would be," and did nothing about it. But you followed through! How wonderful for us! Thank you for generously sharing your pattern. This is just awesome!

Kelly, I just bought your kit and downloaded the pattern. May I ask you what size Loc Bloc ruler you used? This is a terrific ruler! I have to ask myself, "Gee, why didn't **I** think of this!?!" Thanks!

Hi Caro,You are a no-reply blogger, so I wasn't able to reply to you directly. If you are in US, try http://www.quilterssquareky.com/ for a kit. They carry all the Kona's required and have made kits to request a lot. If you are in the UK, The Village haberdashery is worth a try also.BWKelly

I am new to quilting and would like to take a whack at making this quilt... I have a beginners guide, sewing machine, materials, etc. but I am new to purchasing fabric. I am wondering what would be the best way to get all that fabric for this quilt? Is it necessary to buy them one by one?

This is a stunning quilt! I'm currently attempting it using fabrics that I picked up on our vacation to Maui last year. I am curious if any one has "hacked" it to do a black/white/grey version. I'm trying to wrap my head around it and am having some issues!

Hi Sheena,You are a no-reply blogger so I couldn't reply to you personally unfortunately.I haven't seen a black and white version. Try saving one of my pics from above and then make it black and white. You should get a good idea of value, which wiull help with deciding what to put where.All the bestKelly

Hello!!!! I am madly in love with this quilt, and wanted to make it for my brother and his fiancé as a wedding quilt, but they like blues, greys, mustard colours. Do you think that would work? Would I still need 36 shades?xxx

Hi Hannah, You are a no-reply blogger do I wasn't able to reply to you directly.I think that the pattern would work fine with the limited colours. I doubt you would need 36 shades but you will definitely need a few. Try using a black and white filter on one of my original pictures to get a look at the scale, this should help with an idea on what to put where. Good luckKelly